Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. cut its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,951 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. apricus wealth LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.5% in the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 23,817 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,445 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 142.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 882,107 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $92,868,000 after buying an additional 517,820 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,679 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,967,000 after buying an additional 977 shares during the period. Finally, Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 2,570 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $104.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $121.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $108.74 and its 200 day moving average is $114.21. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $101.29 and a 52 week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.86%.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,288,321.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $144.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.94.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.